Written Answers Monday 20 March 2006

Scottish Executive

Antisocial Behaviour

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23326 by Hugh Henry on 3 March 2006, whether it will provide the number of motor vehicle seizures and warnings issued by police under the recent anti-social behaviour legislation, broken down by local authority area.

Hugh Henry: Seizure of vehicles is a police power and data is collected by police constabulary area, as presented in the following table. The data covers the period from commencement of the measure in March 2005 to October 2005. Statistics on the use of the measures in the Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004 will be collected on a six-monthly basis.

  

Force
Seizure of Vehicles
Warning Notices
Seizure of Vehicles
Vehicles


Central Scotland Police
0
0


Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary
3
0


Fife Constabulary
173
9


Grampian Police
135
8


Lothian and Borders Police
0
0


Northern Constabulary
1
0


Strathclyde Police
0
0


Tayside Police
32
0


Total
344
17

Apprenticeships

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many modern apprenticeships there have been in each year since the programme’s inception, broken down by gender and framework.

Allan Wilson: The number of modern apprentices (MAs) broken down by framework and gender each year since their inception is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. The information is not held centrally.

  However, Scottish Enterprise have published MA figures for males and females in the top 12 frameworks since 1998-99, as well as the gender split for each framework by age groups 16 to 24 and over 25s for the year ending 31 March 2005.

  These are available on the Scottish Enterprise website:  www.scottish-enterprise.com/sedotcom_home/training-providers-top/training-providers/performance-and-reports.htm.

Apprenticeships

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the completion rates for the modern apprenticeship programme were in (a) 2003-04 and (b) 2004-05 and what they are likely to be for 2005-06, broken down by gender and framework.

Allan Wilson: The overall modern apprenticeship (MA) completion rate in Scotland for 2003-04 was 48%. In 2004-05 the completion rate was 55%. The current completion rate is 60%.

  Details about completion rates broken down by gender and framework is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. The information is not held centrally.

Apprenticeships

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken to implement the recommendations of Jobs for the boys and girls: promoting a smart successful and equal Scotland published by the Equal Opportunities Commission in February 2005.

Allan Wilson: Officials were involved in the Equal Opportunities Commissions (EOC) External Advisory Group as part of their research into occupation segregation. I have met with the EOC since the launch of their investigative report into occupational segregation in modern apprenticeships (MAs), Jobs for the boys and girls: promoting a smart successful and equal Scotland .

  I recognise that there are a complex set of factors which influence career choice and the Executive have agreed to set up a cross departmental working group on occupational segregation. Officials are currently liaising with the EOC Scotland over the remit, membership and duration of the group.

  We have also, through the Modern Apprenticeship Implementation Group (MAIG), encouraged changes to the role of the group, the way it operates and also the process that MA frameworks are approved. The process is now more robust and through Sector Skills Agreements we can encourage employers to become more proactive in tackling occupational segregation and share best practice.

Avian Influenza

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive what advice it is giving to keepers of homing pigeons regarding the threat of avian flu.

Ross Finnie: Although pigeons are not currently considered to be highly susceptible to avian influenza, officials have been in regular contact with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Scottish Homing Union, on matters such as good biosecurity and the licensing of pigeon racing.

Bankruptcy

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-4504 by Mr Jim Wallace on 10 December 2003, what the outcome was of discussions with the Department of Work and Pensions regarding reform of arrestment and forthcoming.

Allan Wilson: The outcome of discussions with the Department of Work and Pensions is the proposal in the Bankruptcy and Diligence Bill to stop creditors from arresting all the money in a bank account. A minimum balance will be protected, currently fixed at £370. This reform will help all debtors, including those who rely on benefit income.

Carers

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-19268 by Robert Brown on 29 September 2005, when it anticipates that Professor Aldgate’s report on kinship care in Scotland will be published.

Robert Brown: Professor Aldgate’s study will be published as one of the supporting reports for the review of services and outcomes for looked after children being undertaken by the Social Work Inspection Agency. The review is in process for publication in May.

Defence

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations the Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning has made to the Ministry of Defence in respect of the Robert Noble contract for weaving the tartan for, and separately the making of, kilts for Scottish soldiers and, in particular, on whether the armed forces are exempt from competitive tendering requirements in respect of such procurement.

Allan Wilson: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues including defence. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) advise that it is not possible for them to stipulate that manufacture of a non-warlike product should take place in a particular country. The MoD also advise that the criteria used in selecting tenders will be robust and only those suppliers that have proven ability to supply and manufacture to the required standards will be invited to tender.

Dental Health

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made on meeting its target for everyone to receive free dental checks by 1 April 2007.

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which groups and areas will be the first to receive free dental checks.

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the timetable is for rolling out free dental checks across Scotland.

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the final (a) group and (b) area to receive free dental checks will receive them.

Lewis Macdonald: All NHS dental examinations in Scotland will be free from 1 April 2006.

Education

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it has taken to improve the health of school pupils.

Peter Peacock: The Scottish Health Promoting Schools Unit was established to develop a whole school approach to promoting the physical, social, spiritual, mental and emotional well-being of all pupils. This ensures not only that health education is integral to the curriculum but also that school ethos, policies, services and extra-curricular activities foster mental, physical and social well-being and healthy development. All schools are required to be health promoting by 2007.

  The agenda set out in Ambitious Excellent Schools and A Curriculum for Excellence places an importance on personal and life skills. Guidance for schools which support this agenda are:

  The national review of guidance Happy, Safe and Achieving their Potential, sets out the standards of support for all school staff in pastoral care.

  Safe and Well, a handbook for staff, schools and education authorities provides guidance on pupil safety and well-being.

  Better Behaviour – Better Learning, provides a framework for promoting positive behaviour, respectful relationships, effective communication and emotional intelligence.

  Healthy Respect, the National Health Demonstration Project on young people’s sexual health, funded by the Executive, aims to demonstrate how increasing young people’s knowledge of sexual health issues through a multi-disciplinary approach to education, information and accessible services in a variety of settings can lead to improved sexual health and relationships. The learning from Healthy Respect will be shared across Scotland to enable other parts of the country to shape their own services according to local need.

  To promote healthy eating, a grant of over £70 million for 2006–08 has recently been made available to continue the implementation of the recommendations of Hungry for Success. These measures will ensure that nutritious school meals are available to all children.

  We are also funding initiatives which promote physical activity in schools and this includes: Active Schools which aims to increase the range, frequency and quality of opportunity for daily physical activity in schools; working with Y Dance to provide in-service training for teachers to develop dance work in schools and encourage participation in dance as a contribution to increasing physical activity, particularly among girls; Scottish Out of School Care Network which provides development of training and provision of resources for after school clubs and Girls on the Move which provides girls-only opportunities for sports coach and leader training.

Education

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to improve leadership in schools.

Peter Peacock: The recent Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education report, Improving Scottish Education , highlighted that leadership is good or very good in over 80% of our schools. The Executive is determined to build on this successful performance to improve leadership in all schools and thereby increase pupil attainment and achievement.

  The Executive is undertaking a wide range of initiatives aimed at improving leadership in Scottish education. Some of the priority areas that we are addressing are:

  
Designing and developing flexible approaches to meeting the Standard for Headship;
  Supporting the development of leadership capacity at all levels of the education system;
  Increasing the mentoring and coaching capacity in Scottish education;
  Establishing additional support and development mechanisms for head teachers who are new in post;
  Supporting local authorities in leadership succession planning, and
  Accessing and sharing best practice from Scotland, the rest of the UK and international.
European Funding

Education

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to compensate for the loss of Leader Plus European funding in the south of Scotland after 2007.

Allan Wilson: The Leader+(Scotland) Programme currently operates as a Community Initiative under the European Structural Funds and will continue to run through to June 2008 although has to be fully committed by 31 December 2006, project activity completed by 31 December 2007 and administration costs payable until 30 June 2008.

  From 2007 Leader will be mainstreamed in the Scottish Rural Development Programme and responsibility will transfer to Environment and Rural Affairs Department.

  At this moment it is not possible to say what the funding level for Leader 2007-13 will be as the European funding allocation for rural development to member states has not been finalised but leader will play a key role in the delivery of the Scottish Rural Development Programme and will be in place during 2007.

Education

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received from HM Treasury the full allocation of European Structural funding for (a) Scottish regions, (b) Scotland as a whole and (c) Scottish programmes for the period 2000-06 and what those amounts were.

Allan Wilson: Expenditure for the Scottish programmes is paid in arrears to the member state through the Treasury, which then remits in full to the Scottish Executive. As we are currently still within the 2000-06 programming period, the full allocation for all Scottish programmes has not yet been disbursed. At current exchange rates, the total funding package equates to £1.156 billion, of which £680 million has been disbursed for the period January 2000 to February 2006.

  New financial spend targets have been introduced in 2000-06, by which the full sum of any one year’s allocations must be spent within two years of the allocation year or risk automatic de-commitment (referred to as "N+2"). Scottish programmes have met all their N+2 targets apart from under the Highlands and Islands Special Transitional Programme, where lack of spend by project beneficiaries led to automatic de-commitment of European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund monies in 2003 and Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance monies in 2004.

Education

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the allocation of European Structural funding by the European Union was for the Highlands and Islands Special Transitional Programme for 2000 to 2006; whether all this money will have been received by the Executive from HM Treasury by the end of 2006-07, and, if not, how much will have been retained by HM Treasury and for what purposes.

Allan Wilson: The European Structural Funds allocation for the Highlands and Islands Special Transitional Programme (2000-06) is in the following table:

  

Fund
Euro
Sterling*


European Regional Development Fund
190,101,740
129,468,790


European Social Fund
62,349,716
42,463,274


European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund
38,302,223
26,085,729


Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance
**26,953,746
18,356,849


Total
317,707,425 
216,374,642



  Notes:

  * Exchange rate €1 = £0.681050 (March 2006).

  ** Excludes 2005 decommitment of €9,009.82 –S2W-24124 answered on 20 March 2006 refers.

  Allocations establish the extent to which funds can be made available to individual projects. Satisfactory progress with projects, reported in individual grant claims, allows the Scottish Executive to pay grant to applicants. The Scottish Executive effectively acts as banker for the programme. When the programme was approved by the Commission in 2000, the Commission paid an advance to the Executive from which grant could be paid to projects. Project expenditure will continue into 2008. As claims are settled, the Executive seeks re-imbursement from the Commission – usually three or four times each year. This process will continue until the programme closes.

  Final payment is not made until the programme has been closed by the Commission. It is anticipated that final claim and closure statements will be submitted to the Commission by June 2009 and final payment will be made thereafter. This does not affect applicants. Allocations are made in full by the Commission to the programme. Payments from the Commission come to the Executive via HM Treasury and are automatically transferred in full to the Scottish budget on receipt.

Education

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23197 by Allan Wilson on 10 March 2006, who the project beneficiaries were whose underspending under the Highlands and Islands Special Transitional Programme led to automatic de-commitment of European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund monies in 2003 and Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance monies in 2004 and what sums were involved in each case.

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23197 by Allan Wilson on 10 March 2006 in respect of underspending under the Highlands and Islands Special Transitional Programme which led to automatic de-commitment of European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund monies in 2003 and Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance monies in 2004, to what extent these funds were lost to the potential beneficiaries.

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23197 by Allan Wilson on 10 March 2006 in respect of underspending under the Highlands and Islands Special Transitional Programme which led to automatic de-commitment of European Agricultural Guidance and Guarantee Fund monies in 2003 and Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance monies in 2004, what steps are being taken, or have been taken, to avoid such a situation occurring in future.

Allan Wilson: In 2003 a total of €2,026,960.77 (£1,380,461) was deducted from the European Agriculture Guidance and Guarantee Fund element of the Highlands and Islands Special Transitional Programme. In 2004 €2,147,214 (£1,462,360) was deducted from the Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance element; it is also likely that a further €9,009.82 (£6,136) will be deducted from 2005.

  It would not be appropriate to provide details of individual cases. Failure to achieve spending levels is attributable to a range of factors including particular problems faced by the farming and fisheries sectors over the last few years affecting confidence and ability to fund applicants’ share of project costs.

  Although the level of European funding was reduced there was no loss to the programme or individual projects as the Environment and Rural Affairs Department increased the level of its funding to compensate.

  A number of steps have been taken to monitor financial progress. In 2003 the Programme Monitoring Committee adopted an N+2 (Annual Expenditure Target) Action Plan. This is updated annually. N+2 is a standing item for Programme Monitoring and Management Committees. In addition, the Scottish Executive and the Programme Management Executive monitor progress on a monthly basis, increasing to weekly if progress is slow and as the end of year deadline approaches. Officials also meet regularly to consider progress and take appropriate steps to expedite spend including contact with project applicants to ensure that claims are submitted regularly. Officials also provide progress reports to me on all structural funds programmes and I have written to a number of applicants encouraging them to submit claims timeously.

  Note: Exchange rate used €1 = £0.681050 – March 2006.

Fresh Talent Initiative

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20263 by Mr Tom McCabe on 10 November 2005, how many successful applications to the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme there has been since 22 June 2005, broken down by nationality of successful applicant.

Mr Tom McCabe: Between the launch of the scheme on 22 June 2005 and the end of February 2006 a total of 1497 people have successfully applied to the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme. The breakdown by nationality is in the following table:

  

Albania
3


Angola
1


Argentina
1


Australia
2


Bahrain
1


Bangladesh
15


Barbados
2


Belarus
1


Bolivia
1


Brazil
2


British National (Overseas)
5


British Overseas Citizen
2


Brunei
2


Bulgaria
2


Cameroon
8


Canada
10


Chile
3


China
480


Columbia
1


Croatia
1


Ecuador
1


Egypt
3


Ethiopia
2


Fiji
1


Gambia
2


Georgia
2


Ghana
34


Hong Kong
6


Hong Kong (holder of special admin region passport
2


India
425


Indonesia
2


Japan
10


Jordan
2


Kenya
11


Korea
1


Korea (South)
5


Kyrgyzstan
1


Lebanon
1


Libya
1


Malawi
4


Malaysia
47


Maldives
47


Mauritius
4


Mexico
1


Mongolia
2


Morocco
1


Namibia
1


Nepal
11


Nicaragua
1


Nigeria
141


Pakistan 
57


Palestine
1


Panama
1


Philippines
1


Romania
3


Russia
7


Rwanda
1


Saudi Arabia
1


Sierra Leone
2


Singapore
6


South Africa
4


Sri Lanka
10


Sudan
5


Swaziland
2


Syria
2


Taiwan
14


Tanzania
4


Thailand
1


Turkey
2


Uganda
4


Ukraine
1


United States
72


Uzbekistan
3


Venezuela
4


Vietnam
1


Zambia
2


Zimbabwe
14

Fresh Talent Initiative

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20263 by Mr Tom McCabe on 10 November 2005, when it expects to publish the data collected through the questionnaire issued to all successful applicants to the Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland scheme by the Relocation Advisory Service.

Mr Tom McCabe: We intend to publish the information collected from these questionnaires on a regular basis. I expect to be able to publish the first of these reports in the coming months.

Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what incidence of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) was recorded by NHS Scotland in each year since 2000, broken down by NHS board area

Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is not held centrally.

Health

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are currently diagnosed as suffering from cystic fibrosis in each NHS board area and how many were diagnosed, (a) five years ago, (b) 10 years ago, (c) 15 years ago, (d) 20 years ago, (e) 25 years ago, (f) 30 years ago, (g) 35 years ago, (h) 40 years ago and (i) 45 years ago, broken down into those aged (i) under five, (ii) five to 10 (iii) 11 to 16 and (iv) over 16.

Mr Andy Kerr: Centrally held information can provide details for patients where cystic fibrosis is identified on their hospital records. These figures ma y represent an undercount of the true number of cases because cystic fibrosis could be an underlying reason for admission to hospital and, as such, will not always be recorded.

  Table 1 presents the number of patients discharged from acute hospitals in Scotland with a diagnosis of cystic fibrosis broken down by health board of residence and age group. Patients with more than one discharge in a year are only counted once in each health board and age group.

  It is not possible to count the number of patients prior to 1981 as individual hospital discharge records have not been linked before this date.

  Table 1. Number of Patients Discharged with a Diagnosis of Cystic Fibrosis in Scotland in Last Financial Year, Five Years Ago, 10 Years Ago, 15 Years Ago, 20 Years Ago1,2,3,4

  

Health Board of Residence 
Age Group 
Year End 31 March


1985
1990
1995
2000
20054


 
 
1
2
3
4
5


Scotland
Under 5
68
66
78
59
71


 
5 to 10
66
65
87
87
95


 
11 to 16
51
53
86
95
136


 
Over 16
75
78
116
168
197


 
All Ages
260
262
367
409
499


Argyll and Clyde
Under 5
9
2
6
1
4


 
5 to 10
3
7
6
3
6


 
11 to 16
8
1
10
5
11


 
Over 16
7
4
6
15
20


 
All Ages
27
14
28
24
41


Ayrshire and Arran
Under 5
8
8
5
3
5


 
5 to 10
5
6
5
7
4


 
11 to 16
4
8
10
14
9


 
Over 16
3
22
12
16
26


 
All Ages
20
44
32
40
44


Borders
Under 5
1
2
1
1
-


 
5 to 10
2
-
1
1
2


 
11 to 16
1
-
-
2
2


 
Over 16
1
1
3
2
4


 
All Ages
5
3
5
6
8


Dumfries and Galloway
Under 5
1
7
9
2
1


 
5 to 10
-
8
7
10
6


 
11 to 16
1
6
9
11
11


 
Over 16
-
7
11
14
13


 
All Ages
2
28
36
37
31


Fife
Under 5
2
1
1
2
3


 
5 to 10
6
2
8
2
2


 
11 to 16
8
4
5
6
6


 
Over 16
1
1
4
7
9


 
All Ages
17
8
18
17
20


Forth Valley
Under 5
4
11
9
7
2


 
5 to 10
4
6
12
8
9


 
11 to 16
4
3
7
9
16


 
Over 16
2
6
14
18
21


 
All Ages
14
26
42
42
48


Grampian
Under 5
7
9
9
-
7


 
5 to 10
8
3
6
3
-


 
11 to 16
1
5
6
7
9


 
Over 16
4
7
11
19
16


 
All Ages
20
24
32
29
32


Greater Glasgow
Under 5
11
3
8
1
9


 
5 to 10
9
4
5
10
9


 
11 to 16
6
1
7
5
11


 
Over 16
46
1
6
7
16


 
All Ages
72
9
26
23
45


Highland
Under 5
-
3
7
2
4


 
5 to 10
4
4
5
8
5


 
11 to 16
-
4
4
3
11


 
Over 16
-
6
15
11
7


 
All Ages
4
17
31
24
27


Lanarkshire
Under 5
8
16
22
8
11


 
5 to 10
9
21
22
24
18


 
11 to 16
7
11
15
23
38


 
Over 16
4
16
19
28
33


 
All Ages
28
64
78
83
100


Lothian
Under 5
7
1
1
30
23


 
5 to 10
12
2
-
9
32


 
11 to 16
6
3
4
2
9


 
Over 16
5
1
2
16
13


 
All Ages
30
7
7
57
77


Orkney
Under 5
-
-
-
-
2


 
5 to 10
-
-
-
-
-


 
11 to 16
-
-
-
-
-


 
Over 16
-
-
-
-
-


 
All Ages
-
-
-
-
2


Shetland
Under 5
1
-
-
-
-


 
5 to 10
-
-
-
-
-


 
11 to 16
-
-
1
-
-


 
Over 16
-
-
-
-
-


 
All Ages
1
-
1
-
-


Tayside
Under 5
8
3
-
2
-


 
5 to 10
4
2
7
1
2


 
11 to 16
4
6
7
7
2


 
Over 16
2
5
12
14
17


 
All Ages
18
16
26
24
21


Western Isles
Under 5
1
-
-
-
-


 
5 to 10
-
-
3
1
-


 
11 to 16
1
1
1
1
1


 
Over 16
-
1
1
1
2


 
All Ages
2
2
5
3
3



  Source: ISD Scotland (SMR01).

  Notes:

  1. These statistics are derived from data collected on discharges from non-obstetric and non-psychiatric hospitals (SMR01) in Scotland.

  2. Cases where the patient was not admitted to hospital are not included.

  3. Up to six diagnoses (one principal, five secondary) are recorded on SMR01 returns. All six diagnoses have been used to identify cystic fibrosis. The following code was used from the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Other Health Related Problems, tenth revision (ICD10): E84 for discharges from 1 April 1996, and ninth revision (ICD-9): 277.0 for discharges prior to 1 April 1996. However, it should be noted that the use of these codes may vary from hospital to hospital.

  4. Data for year ending 31 March 2005 should be treated as provisional.

Health

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23738 by Mr Andy Kerr on 10 March 2006, what criteria patients should use when deciding whether to visit a consultant-led accident and emergency hospital or one of the units referred to in the answer.

Mr Andy Kerr: Patients with a minor illness or injury should make use of the high quality advice and support available from NHS 24. Where appropriate, NHS 24 will refer them to their local hospital-based Community Casualty Unit. These nurse or paramedic led community-based facilities will be able to treat them quickly and effectively and, should it be necessary, will obtain medical advice by telemedicine link to the area’s main emergency site. These units will also be equipped to pass digital x-ray images to the area’s emergency radiology team.

  Patients who have suffered a serious injury or trauma will be advised to go to, or be taken by ambulance to the area’s main consultant-led Emergency Centre.

  Sites with Emergency Centres will also have Community Casualty Units and patients with a minor illness or injury will be treated in that unit.

Health

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23739 by Mr Andy Kerr on 10 March 2006, whether a proposal for service change submitted to him without an assessment of the impact of the proposed change on the travel arrangements of patients, carers, visitors and staff, will be returned to the NHS board as incomplete.

Mr Andy Kerr: When a proposal for a service change is submitted to the Scottish Executive for approval, we expect the impact of the proposed change on the travel arrangements of patients, carers, visitors and staff to be fully assessed. Where this has been carried out inadequately, we will ask for further travel impact assessment work before a decision is reached.

Homelessness

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many households have been registered as homeless in each year since 1980, broken down by local authority area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The numbers of applications assessed as homeless under the homelessness legislation by local authorities are shown in the following table. Due to local government re-organisation in 1996, there are problems of comparability with data prior to this date and the table therefore presents figures for 1996-97 onwards.

  Number of Applications Assessed as Homeless by Local Authority: 1996-97 to 2004-05

  

 
1996-97
1997-98
1998-99
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05


Scotland
22,900
25,100
26,900
28,200
26,200
31,100
35,008
36,572
34,603


Aberdeen City
750
910
1,000
970
860
880
846
815
686


Aberdeenshire
700
670
690
700
640
620
667
627
711


Angus
330
330
450
350
270
310
438
471
446


Argyll and Bute
320
220
240
250
230
340
515
561
558


Clackmannanshire
130
150
280
320
350
390
376
408
513


Dumfries and Galloway
420
430
390
590
490
620
779
799
853


Dundee City
620
630
550
500
530
510
415
365
319


East Ayrshire
300
390
380
340
390
430
671
692
803


East Dunbartonshire
290
260
250
240
230
220
260
309
257


East Lothian
360
360
370
370
340
450
435
436
439


East Renfrewshire
60
80
100
180
120
150
122
195
246


Edinburgh, City of
2,160
2,840
2,930
3,310
3,470
3,550
3,816
4,283
4,190


Eilean Siar
100
80
70
90
50
60
124
130
171


Falkirk
470
570
720
890
940
930
1,021
992
807


Fife
1,110
1,540
1,680
1,840
1,530
1,800
2,324
2,810
2,584


Glasgow City
8,570
9,010
9,260
9,390
8,380
11,520
11,027
10,623
8,429


Highland
370
390
360
370
440
530
791
1,221
1,276


Inverclyde
210
320
280
200
190
220
364
549
424


Midlothian
370
340
390
310
250
310
405
422
483


Moray
90
190
110
160
210
270
545
384
413


North Ayrshire
360
480
530
670
650
820
1,382
1,295
1,107


North Lanarkshire
1,030
1,000
1,360
1,060
900
1,110
1,649
1,971
2,754


Orkney
60
70
70
80
60
70
50
65
88


Perth and Kinross
130
120
110
210
380
430
654
359
296


Renfrewshire
310
270
180
420
630
440
565
652
690


Scottish Borders, The
480
370
390
370
380
350
388
598
467


Shetland
130
120
80
60
90
110
105
105
69


South Ayrshire
550
530
590
600
570
590
549
554
545


South Lanarkshire
810
1,000
1,090
920
820
970
1,335
1,400
1,266


Stirling
560
640
680
620
460
420
492
469
589


West Dunbartonshire
210
240
360
550
530
660
836
860
1,132


West Lothian
570
540
1,030
1,260
910
1,010
1,062
1,152
992



  Source: HL1 returns by local authorities to the Scottish Executive Development Department Analytical Services Division (Housing Statistics).

  Notes:

  1. All applications within period assessed as homeless (excludes potentially homeless).

  2. Some households may have applied several times during the period, and will be counted more than once.

  3. Data prior to 2002 are estimated due to missing returns (rounded to the nearest 100 for Scotland level and the nearest 10 for local authority level).

Housing

Murray Tosh (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-19671 by Malcolm Chisholm, with which other public bodies, including UK Government departments, it is negotiating to develop framework agreements with a view to securing transfers of surplus land for affordable housing in areas where particular need has been identified; what stage negotiations have reached with each such body, and whether any body, including UK Government departments, approached in this connection has declined to conclude any framework agreement.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive and Communities Scotland are engaged in discussion with a number of public bodies and agencies about the use of surplus public sector land across Scotland for affordable housing. A national agreement is in place with Forestry Commission Scotland and we are currently pursuing discussions that seek to extend to Scotland an agreement that exists between English Partnerships and Defence Estates. Local agreements are also proving successful in some areas in delivering suitable land, such as the arrangement I announced on 13 March which sees former Ministry of Defence properties in Elgin being acquired for affordable housing. We intend to build on such arrangements and extend them to other areas wherever possible. We are, for instance, looking at ways to facilitate local agreements between local authorities and health boards. Our Regeneration Statement published earlier this month commits us to maximise the regeneration potential of public sector land and we will continue to examine all opportunities to secure more land for affordable housing in our most pressured areas. We are also streamlining the system that identifies surplus public sector sites and encouraging its use by a wider range of public bodies.

  No public bodies have declined to conclude framework agreements.

Housing

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average rent increases for local authority tenants were this year, broken down by local authority.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information on local authority rents is available online in the publications of the Scottish Executive website www.scotland.gov.uk .

  The latest statistical bulletin HSG/2006/1 shows average local authority rents for 2003-04, 2004-05 and estimates for 2005-06 and can be accessed through the following link: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/02/07092332/0

  The previous bulletin shows data back to 2002-03 and can be accessed through the following link:  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/housing/lahie2-00.asp.

Housing

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average rent increases for local authority tenants have been in each of the last three years, broken down by local authority.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information on local authority rents is available online in the publications of the Scottish Executive website www.scotland.gov.uk .

  The latest statistical bulletin HSG/2006/1 shows average local authority rents for 2003-04, 2004-05 and estimates for 2005-06 and can be accessed through the following link: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2006/02/07092332/0.

Housing

Mr Ted Brocklebank (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Viewpoint Housing Association Ltd regarding the association’s proposal to withdraw meals for elderly people from its residences throughout Scotland.

Malcolm Chisholm: In response to a query from a relative of a resident of a Viewpoint sheltered housing development, officials have been advised that, following consultation with tenants in February 2006, the association is reviewing the provision to meals in its developments. It is understood that the number of residents requesting meals had fallen and the association was incurring a substantial deficit. The association is now considering alternative arrangements with relevant local authorities and with private companies which provide meals that can be delivered to the tenant. The association also plans to upgrade some studio apartments to provide improved cooking facilities.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many socially rented housing units have been lost to that form of tenure (a) by right to buy, (b) by demolition or (c) for any other reason in each year since 1980, broken down by local authority area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The tables produced for this analysis are too large to be included in this response and have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre.

  Two tables showing right to buy sales for local authorities and registered social landlords (RSL) are available under Bib. number 39153. Information on RSL sales by local authority area is only available for 2002-03 onwards.

  One further table showing all demolitions by local authority area is available under Bib. number 39152. Data by current local authority area is only available for 1991 onwards.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many households have lived in (a) council housing, (b) other forms of socially rented housing, (c) privately rented housing and (d) owned homes in each year since 1980, broken down by local authority area.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information on the tenure of households at the time of the 2001 Census by current local authority area is available from the data library in the publications and data section of the Scottish Executive housing statistics branch website at: www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/housing/hsbref in the section 2001 Census Adjusted Tenure Tables.

  Estimates of proportions of households by tenure by current local authority are available from Scottish Household Survey reports for periods 1999-2000 (table 2.2), 2001-02 (table 4.1) and 2003-04 (table 4.1). These can be accessed through the Scottish Household Survey Website at: www.scotland.gov.uk/shs.

  Information on households by tenure in the form requested by current local authority area is not available for earlier periods.

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of all houses bought privately in each year since 1995 have been purchased by first-time buyers, broken down by local authority area.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information on the proportion of houses purchased by first time buyers is not available by local authority area. Estimates, for Scotland as a whole, from the Regulated Mortgage Survey of the proportion of loans to first time purchasers are given in table 5 of Housing Trends in Scotland: quarter ending 30 September 2005 . This can be accessed through the data library in the publications and data section of the Scottish Executive housing statistics branch website at: www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/housing/hsbref .

Housing

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many households have had to foreclose on their mortgage in each year since 1980, broken down by local authority area.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not held centrally.

Housing

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many homes in Glasgow are (a) privately owned, (b) privately rented and (c) rented within the housing association sector and how many individuals and/or families are currently (i) registered as homeless and (ii) on housing association and/or council house waiting lists in (1) Glasgow and (2) Scotland.

Malcolm Chisholm: As at 31 March 2005, there were an estimated 293,900 dwellings in Glasgow of which 120,195 were housing association dwellings in Glasgow. The Scottish Executive does not hold sufficient information to provide reliable estimates of the number of privately rented and privately owned properties.

  The following table shows the tenure split of households in Glasgow and Scotland for 2003 and 2004.

  Households by Tenure 2003-04 (Percentages)

  

Tenure
Glasgow
Scotland


Owner Occupied
51
65


Private Rented
8
6


Social Rented
39
27


Other
2
2



  Source: Scottish Household Survey.

  During 2004-05 there were 8,429 applications assessed as homeless in Glasgow council, and 34, 603 applications assessed as homeless for Scotland as a whole.

  Figures on households on local authority housing waiting lists are accessible on-line through the data library in the publications and data section of the Scottish Executive housing statistics branch website at www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/housing/hsbref. Information as at 31 March 2005 is available in HSG/2005/4.

Housing

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new homes will be built in the (a) social rented and (b) local authority sector in each of the next five years and how many were built in each sector in each year since 1997.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive does not produce projections of new build. Over the current three year investment period (2005-08) the Executive is committed to funding the provision of 21,500 affordable homes, just over 16,500 of which will be for social rent.

  Figures on new build completions broken down by tenure are accessible on-line through the data library in the publications and data section of the Scottish Executive housing statistics branch website at www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/housing/hsbref.

  The latest published figures, as at 30 September 2005, can be accessed through HSG/2006/1.

Housing

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average rent level is in the (a) social rented and (b) local authority sector and what the average monthly mortgage payment is in (i) Glasgow and (ii) Scotland.

Malcolm Chisholm: In 2004-05 the average weekly secure rent of registered social landlords was £48.54 in Scotland and £50.19 in Glasgow. The average local authority rent for Scotland was £42.64.

  The median monthly mortgage payment of the 6,871 respondents to the Scottish House Condition Survey in 2002 who were buying with the help of a mortgage was £250 per month for Scotland and £250 per month for the 494 respondents in Glasgow.

  The estimated median mortgage payment in Scotland of the 1,724 respondents to the 2003-04 Family Resources Survey who were buying with the help of a mortgage was £202. Estimates for Glasgow are not available.

Housing

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what Glasgow Housing Association’s (GHA) current level of debt is and what its projected debt levels are for each of the next five years.

Malcolm Chisholm: I have asked Angiolina Foster, Chief Executive of Communities Scotland, to respond. Her response is as follows:

  GHA currently has no loan debt. Based on GHA’s 2006-07 Business Plan the projected debt levels for each of the next five years are as follows:

  
2006-07 - £33.356 million
  2007-08 - £134.910 million
  2008-09 - £219.569 million
  2009-10 - £227.806 million
  2010-11 - £348.673 million.


  These are cumulative figures.

Housing

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average cost is to (a) local authorities and (b) socially registered landlords of building an average three-bedroom house with an appropriate garden space.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not held centrally.

Income

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the gross disposable household income is per head at current prices in Scotland, shown as a percentage of the gross disposable household income per head in (a) the United Kingdom and (b) each local authority area in Scotland.

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the gross disposable household income is per head at current prices in (a) Scotland and (b) each local authority area in Scotland.

Malcolm Chisholm: Net income per head in Scotland in 2004-05 is estimated to be £183 per week. This is 94% of the Great Britain estimate per head of £195.

  The Scottish Executive is unable to supply estimates at the local authority level.

Justice

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-20247 by Cathy Jamieson on 9 November 2005, whether the reports by John McLeod in respect of his investigations into the Shirley McKie fingerprint case will now be made public and, if so, when they will be published; if not, what the reasons are for not publishing the reports and whether it will publish the terms of reference and the conclusions arising from these reports; whether the Executive or the Lord Advocate has commissioned any other reports into this case, and, if so, when these will be published, what the terms of reference were and what conclusions were reached.

Cathy Jamieson: It is not my intention to make the MacLeod reports public. They were commissioned by the Executive as part of its defence of the civil action brought by Shirley McKie. Publication of the MacLeod reports would undermine the basic principle of Scots law that neither party to a litigation is obliged to disclose reports commissioned for the purpose of the litigation. The Scottish Executive has commissioned one further report as part of its defence of the civil action which will not be published for the same reason. The Lord Advocate also commissioned reports in the course of criminal investigations linked to the Shirley McKie case. The Lord Advocate does not intend to publish these reports as they were prepared for the purposes of criminal investigations and as such are confidential.

Justice

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the report prepared by Tayside Police in 2000 into aspects of the Shirley McKie case.

Colin Boyd QC: No. I am very concerned about the apparent leaking of part of the report by Tayside Police into the Shirley McKie case.

  The report is a confidential police report and relates to an investigation into allegations of criminal conduct by a number of individuals. The leaking of the report is a breach of the duties of confidentiality owed to the Crown and may involve contravention of the Data Protection Act.

  These legal obligations are put in place to protect individuals who are the subject of such reports, to enable the investigation, detection and prosecution of crime to function effectively, to enable witnesses to give statements confidentially and to allow police officers to make reports secure in the knowledge that they will not subsequently be made public.

  Where allegations of criminal conduct are made by a state against a citizen they should only be made in a court of law or other forum where the evidence can be tested and the rights of the citizen protected. The apparent leaking of the report has infringed the rights of individual citizens and subjected them to trial by media.

  I believe that it is a matter of grave concern that the protections which are afforded by law to the persons who were the subject of the report have been ignored.

Justice

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a detailed breakdown of the legal costs in respect of the Shirley McKie case already paid or pending and incurred by it or its agencies, broken down by year and into costs for solicitors, counsel, assistance, court work, documentation and other expenses.

Cathy Jamieson: The administration costs incurred by public bodies involved in work related to these matters cannot be separately identified within the local administration costs incurred by those bodies. The final costs of legal representation cannot be determined until the court resolves the outstanding issues in relation to expenses.

Justice

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list all public inquiries relating to criminal matters which have taken place in Scotland since May 1999 and what the costs involved were.

Cathy Jamieson: There have been no public inquiries relating to criminal matters which have taken place in Scotland since May 1999.

Justice

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many attacks on (a) bus passengers, (b) bus drivers, (c) rail passengers and (d) train staff have taken place each month in the last three years in (i) total, (ii) each local authority area and (iii) each police force area; how many (1) arrests, (2) charges and (3) convictions there were in relation to these attacks, and what average sentence was given to those convicted.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is not available from the statistics collected centrally on recorded crime, prosecutions and convictions. The information available from First ScotRail on the number of assaults on rail staff and passengers is given in the following table. Similar data is not available centrally in respect of attacks on bus passengers and drivers.

  Number of Assaults on Rail Staff and Passengers, 20031-05

  

 
20031
2004
2005


Assaults against staff
 
 
 


Physical – violent (contact)
37
43
49


Physical – sexual 
1
1
1


Physical – non-violent (e.g. spitting, shoving, pointing)
36
74
53


Sub-total
74
118
103


Verbal – sexual or racial abuse/harassment
0
4
1


Verbal – threat of assault
10
5
14


Verbal – general abuse
20
21
11


Sub-total
30
30
26


Passenger assaults (physical)
20
28
36



  Source: First ScotRail.

  Note: 1. April-December.

Justice

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23439 by Cathy Jamieson on 7 March 2006, what the total costs to it have been to date of the legal representation which it sought in defence of the claim for compensation against it by Shirley McKie, broken down by year since 1997.

Cathy Jamieson: Legal costs paid to date total £109,034.81 net of VAT.

Justice

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23439 by Cathy Jamieson on 7 March 2006, when it expects that the court will have resolved the outstanding issues in relation to expenses in respect of the Shirley McKie case.

Cathy Jamieson: A motion for expenses was heard by Lord Hodge in the Court of Session on 9 March 2006. He reserved his judgement and the timing of that judgement is a matter for the Court.

Justice

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23439 by Cathy Jamieson on 7 March 2006, whether it will provide details of the costs to it of the legal representation it sought in defence of the claim for compensation against it by Shirley McKie once the court has resolved the outstanding issues in relation to expenses in this case.

Cathy Jamieson: Yes.

Land

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the ratio is of landowners to land area, and what information it has on how this compares with other EU countries.

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of land is in community or public ownership.

Johann Lamont: This information is not held centrally.

Local Government Finance

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Local Government Finance Review Committee, chaired by Sir Peter Burt, will publish its report.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Local Government Finance Review Committee recently informed me that it expects to report by the end of October 2006.

Local Government Finance

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the report of the Local Government Finance Review Committee is being delayed due to the modelling of different tax options.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Local Government Finance Review Committee was established as an independent committee and its work programme and scheduling are matters for the committee itself. The committee recently informed me that it expects to report by the end of October 2006.

Mountain Rescue

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it plans to support financially mountain rescue teams in order to ensure stability of funding and a reliable voluntary service.

Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-23327 on 7 March 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Music Industry

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether economic activity in the music sector is measured.

Patricia Ferguson: This information is not routinely collated nor centrally compiled. The most recent relevant data is contained in the 2003 Mapping the Music Industry in Scotland report compiled independently on behalf of Scottish Enterprise. Economic and employment data for 2003 obtained for the report include the following: £106 million generated annually in sales and music services; the industry is made up of approximately 2,040 full-time employees and 2003 part-time workers, and annual consumer spending of around £331 million on musical instruments and live and recorded music.

Music Industry

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding has been allocated to the music industry in each year from 1999 until 2006 by each of its relevant departments.

Patricia Ferguson: The information requested is not held centrally. The majority of funding for the music industry by the Executive is routed through the Enterprise Networks, the Scottish Funding Council and the Scottish Arts Council. The Executive does not hold details of their expenditure as this is an operational matter for them. In addition, other Executive Departments have, in this period, provided substantial funding towards various music initiatives. Examples of these are:

  
The Health Department’s National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Well-being funding to the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) to fund the One in Four booklet and music CD, plus an associated festival to promote its message, and
The Environment and Rural Affairs Department’s Rural Challenge Fund funding for local initiatives to bring music and other cultural opportunities to rural communities, with particular emphasis on enabling young people to access facilities and events.

Music Industry

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what criteria are used to judge whether or not its investment in the music industry has been successful.

Patricia Ferguson: The Scottish Executive uses a range of criteria including considering the effects on economic activity, measured in terms of the impacts on the broader creative industries sector. The Scottish Arts Council also measures audience participation figures for the music activity which it funds.

NHS Hospitals

Elaine Smith (Coatbridge and Chryston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much funding it has provided to NHS Lanarkshire in each of the last five years for upgrading and maintaining accident and emergency departments.

Lewis Macdonald: Lanarkshire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust received £2.7 million from the Capital Modernisation Fund for the upgrade of the accident and emergency department at Monklands Hospital in 2002. However, in 2002-03 the basis of funding capital expenditure changed from being a project by project bidding request to the Health Department to a system where NHS boards are given a single allocation based on an agreed formula. The application of this capital resource is prioritised by NHS boards themselves, having regard to national, regional and local priorities.

  NHS Lanarkshire received formula capital allocations of £11.67 million in 2002-03, £15.92 million in 2003-04, £17.571 million in 2004-05, £19.703 million in 2005-06 and £23.644 million in 2006-07. This will increase again in 2007-08 to £28.390 million. Details on the proportion of this resource applied in upgrading and maintaining accident and emergency departments is not held centrally.

NHS Staff

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what it anticipates the cost of Agenda for Change will be in each NHS board and whether it will make additional resources available to implement the process.

Mr Andy Kerr: The final cost of implementing Agenda for Change on a board by board basis will not be known until such times as staff have gone though the job evaluation process and are assimilated to the new Agenda for Change pay bands.

  In terms of NHSScotland overall, the anticipated cost pressures associated with Agenda for Change were reported in The Scottish Executive: Draft Budget 2006-07. You can access a copy of this at: www.scotland.gov.uk/publications.

  The Scottish Executive previously made available a total of £3.5 million towards the administrative costs of Agenda for Change. This was issued to health boards in NHS Scotland, on a proportionate basis, in two separate tranches over 2003-04 and 2004-05. There are currently no plans to issue further dedicated funding to assist boards in implementing Agenda for Change.

NHS Staff

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards have (a) completed and (b) not yet completed the Agenda for Change job matching process and when staff will enter the new grading structure.

Mr Andy Kerr: Agenda for Change is being implemented in partnership with trade unions and professional organisations in NHSScotland, and significant progress has been made. Just under 90% of posts which have been submitted to matching panels have been matched against national profiles. Around 67,000 staff in the nursing, midwifery, ancillary and AHP staff groups have been approved for assimilation to the new Agenda for Change pay bands, and the first groups of staff were paid on those new pay bands in January.

  A number of boards have completed the matching process for all staff who match national job profiles. However, not all of these staff have passed through the local consistency and national monitoring processes, which is required before assimilation to the new pay bands can take place.

  A plan for 2006 has been drawn up and agreed in partnership, which health boards are committed to delivering. Based on the plan it is anticipated that Agenda for Change will be introduced and operational by the end of 2006, with all staff assimilated to the new pay bands by October 2006.

  The Pay Modernisation Team, alongside the Scottish Executive Health Department, will monitor progress towards the plan for 2006, providing health boards with support and advice as necessary.

New Futures Fund

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, following the announcement in December 2005 regarding the funding for New Futures Fund projects, how many of the 43 projects currently receiving funding have had confirmation that they will continue to be funded for the financial years 2006-07 and 2007-08, broken down by local authority area, and what the timescales are for the remaining projects to receive notification of future funding from Community Planning Partnerships.

Allan Wilson: We do not yet have this information. We have agreed with Community Planning Partnerships (CPPs) that by the end of February they should have notified projects that funding has been extended until June 2006. Early in June, CPPs will set out longer term plans on how they intend to use New Futures Fund successor funding in their areas.

New Futures Fund

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring systems are in place to track the progress of delivering continued funding to New Futures Fund projects; what the frequency is of such monitoring, and which Executive department will receive and act on the monitoring reports.

Allan Wilson: We are currently developing monitoring arrangements on the use of New Future Fund successor funding as part of the guidance to Community Planning Partnerships (CPPs). The Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department with assistance from Communities Scotland, will be monitoring the reports from CPPs.

New Opportunities Fund

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to ensure that funding will continue to be available for projects currently supported by the New Opportunities Fund when the fund closes in July 2007 and whether such decisions will be made know to organisations in a timely fashion to avoid uncertainty to the organisations and their employees.

Patricia Ferguson: The Executive expects the Big Lottery Fund to announce its new programmes for Scotland in the spring, which will bring a further £257 million to Scotland between 2006–09.

  The continuation or closure of existing programmes of the New Opportunities Fund is a matter for the fund. Ministers set the strategic framework for lottery bodies, but operational matters and programme design are a matter for the lottery distributors themselves.

Nursing

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21458 by Lewis Macdonald on 20 December 2005, what information it has about the level of increase in funding for school nursing in each NHS board area.

Lewis Macdonald: No information is held centrally regarding the level of funding for school nursing in each NHS board area.

Nursing

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it can provide about progress in implementing A Scottish framework for nursing in schools.

Lewis Macdonald: Implementation of the standards in A Scottish Framework for Nursing in Schools is being undertaken locally by NHS boards. It is being done in co-operation with partner organisations such as Education Authorities, Community Health Partnerships and a wide range of health and educational professionals. Implementation is also being undertaken alongside the roll out of the New Community Schools approach.

  The Executive is monitoring the implementation of the standards. The majority of NHS boards across Scotland have made considerable progress in implementing the standards. Full implementation is expected to be achieved by 2007.

Nursing

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total expenditure on school nursing services was in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Lewis Macdonald: Expenditure on school nursing services in each of the last three years for which data is available is shown in the following table. It is not possible to separately identify expenditure on school nursing services beyond 2002-03 as it is now included in central returns along with expenditure on immunisation and community paediatrics.

  

Year
Expenditure
(000)


2000-01
£6,682


2001-02
£7,439


2002-03
£9,015



  Data source: Scottish Health Service Costs publication.

Nursing

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21457 by Lewis Macdonald on 20 December 2005, how many (a) school children and (b) school nurses there are in each NHS board area.

Lewis Macdonald: The number of children and young people aged five to 18 and of school nurses in each NHS board area is shown in the following table.

  

NHS Board
Population
(Mid-Year Estimates)1,2
Number of Qualified School Nurses
(Whole-Time Equivalent)3


Scotland
869,235
305.2


Argyll and Clyde
72,609
20.5


Ayrshire and Arran
64,363
31.2


Borders
18,405
6.8


Dumfries and Galloway
24,946
10.4


Fife
61,848
27.7


Forth Valley
49,754
14.3


Grampian
89,539
32.4


Greater Glasgow
145,712
56.1


Highland
36,753
20.5


Lanarkshire
99,758
41.6


Lothian
128,092
17.5


Orkney
3,557
1.0


Shetland
4,188
0.7


Tayside
65,208
21.6


Western Isles
4,503
2.9



  Notes:

  1. Population figures derive from mid year estimates from the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) at 30 June 2004.

  2. Covers ages five to 18 years.

  3. As at 30 September 2005.

Nursing

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it intends to make the same commitment on access to school nurses as the Department of Health has made in England.

Lewis Macdonald: The Executive believes that it is important to develop integrated teams matching the appropriate professional skill with the identified health need. For example, in some cases, it may be more appropriate to involve members from the health promotion team or other health professional, rather than a school nurse, in health education of children.

  Improvements in the health of children and young people can only be achieved by many professionals and agencies working in partnership with one another and with children, young people and their families.

Oil Industry

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had (a) with Her Majesty’s Government and (b) internally about the impact of potential exploration for sources of oil in the Atlantic Ocean.

Allan Wilson: Scottish ministers meet regularly with the oil and gas industry and play an active role in PILOT, working through this forum with the UK government and the industry to maximise the productive life of the UK continental shelf – which includes the waters West of Shetland.

Ophthalmic Services

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the timetable is for rolling out free eye checks across Scotland.

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which groups and areas of Scotland will be the first to receive free eye checks.

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will meet its target that everyone will be able to receive free eye checks by 1 April 2006.

Lewis Macdonald: All NHS eye examinations in Scotland will be free from 1 April 2006.

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the staffing levels have been at the headquarters of the Scottish Prison Service in each year since 1990.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Reliable information is readily available only from 1999 and is as follows:

  

1 April 2000
277


1 April 2001
293


1 April 2002
307


1 April 2003
319


1 April 2004
317


1 April 2005
274

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prison officers have been employed in each year since 1990.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  Reliable information is readily available only from 2000 and is as follows:

  

Year
Prison Officers in Post


2000
3,100


2001
2,880


2002
2,855


2003
2,867


2004
2,770


2005
2,589

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on how many occasions illegal drugs have been seized from prisoners by prison officers in each year since 1999, broken down by prison.

The Executive has provided a corrected answer which is published in the Written Answer Report on 20 April 2006: see http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/pqa/wa-06/wa0420.htm.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The information is not available in the format requested. The following table relates also to drugs found on visitors or from concealment in prison. Figures are available only from 2001-02 onwards.

  

Establishment
Total 2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05


Aberdeen
24
79
36
27


Barlinnie
144
142
202
176


Castle Huntly
4
3
11
11


Cornton Vale
43
47
43
42


Dumfries
6
19
32
17


Edinburgh
143
226
256
184


Glenochil Prison
89
91
67
93


Glenochil YOI
16
19
1
0


Greenock
33
51
63
75


Inverness
2
0
0
0


Kilmarnock
102
86
139
111


Low Moss
80
76
62
80


Noranside
3
2
5
5


Perth
50
99
118
164


Peterhead
4
2
3
1


Polmont
50
64
82
137


Shotts
70
36
47
60

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the staff to prisoner ratio has been in each prison in each year since 1990.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  The information requested is only readily available since 2002-03. The ratios shown in the following table are of average prisoner numbers in the year in question compared with the total staff complement for that year.

  

Establishment
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05


Aberdeen
1.3:1
1.3:1
1.3:1


Barlinnie
2.0:1
1.9:1
2.1:1


Castle Huntly
2.2:1
2.3:1
2.4:1


Cornton Vale
1.0:1
0.9:1
1.0:1


Dumfries
1.1:1
1.2:1
1.3:1


Edinburgh
1.6:1
1.6:1
1.6:1


Glenochil
1.2:1
1.3:1
1.3:1


Greenock
1.8:1
1.5:1
1.7:1


Inverness
1.3:1
1.4:1
1.3:1


Low Moss
1.7:1
1.7:1
1.8:1


Noranside
2.0:1
2.1:1
2.1:1


Perth
1.4:1
1.5:1
1.5:1


Peterhead
1.3:1
1.4:1
1.3:1


Polmont
1.4:1
1.4:1
1.5:1


Shotts
1.1:1
1.1:1
1.3:1

Prison Service

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents of prisoners intentionally endangering the health or personal safety of others there have been in each prison in each year since 1999.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  
I refer the member to the answer question S2W-23890 on 16 March 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Public Sector

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidelines are issued to enterprise agencies on decentralising the location of their offices.

George Lyon: The Executive works closely with local authorities and local enterprise companies on decentralising the location of their offices. Guidelines is set out in the Relocation Guide which available on the Executive’s relocation website:  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Relocation/Introduction .

Public Sector

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether guidelines to enterprise agencies and other non-departmental public bodies and Executive agencies set a minimum distance for any relocation of offices and units.

George Lyon: There is no minimum distance for the relocation of offices and units. Relocation decisions are based on the analysis of socio-economic factors and the efficiency and effectiveness of the organisation concerned.

Rail Services

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to introduce a half-hourly rail service between Motherwell and Stirling via Cumbernauld and a new station at Castlecary with park and ride facilities, as recommended by the Central Scotland Transport Corridor Studies in January 2003.

Tavish Scott: An option to introduce a half-hourly rail service between Motherwell and Stirling is included in the First ScotRail franchise. However, before such a service can be introduced track capacity issues on the route require to be resolved, which are the subject of current study through Network Rail’s Route Utilisation Strategy. This is due to report by the autumn of 2006.

  The Scottish Executive awarded Falkirk Council £450,000 from the Public Transport Fund to undertake a feasibility study to improve rail services along the A80/M80 corridor, including opening a station and park and ride site at Castlecary (now called Allandale). The study concluded in February 2006 and Transport Scotland is assessing the findings of the report.

  Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more information if required.

Rendition Flights

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has passed on to the police any allegations brought to its attention regarding the possibility that US agencies have used Scottish airports as refuelling stops for flights engaged in the process of "extraordinary rendition" and, if it has not done so, what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-22495 on 2 February 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Rendition Flights

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21577 by Cathy Jamieson on 22 December 2005, whether the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is still responsible for deciding whether evidence in a criminal prosecution meets the essential burdens of proof in Scots Law.

Colin Boyd QC: Yes. In every case that is reported to the Procurator Fiscal, the decision as to whether criminal proceedings are appropriate will be made following an objective assessment of the evidence and the public interest.

Rendition Flights

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21577 by Cathy Jamieson on 22 December 2005, whether it is a responsibility of the public, press or politicians in Scotland to investigate crime and obtain evidence satisfactory to gain a conviction on the necessary judicial standard.

Colin Boyd QC: The investigation and prosecution of crime is a matter for the police, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and the Lord Advocate. If there is credible and reliable information that a crime has been, or is to be committed, it is for the police to investigate. If they secure sufficient evidence for consideration of criminal proceedings, the police will report the result of their investigation to the procurator fiscal. If anyone has specific information concerning criminal activities which have taken place, are taking place, or are about to take place they should take that information to the police.

Roads

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its planned on-line upgrade of the A80 to full motorway status is one lane smaller than that recommended by consultants as in 2002.

Tavish Scott: Yes.

  Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more information if required.

Roads

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21275 by Tavish Scott on 15 December 2005, whether the estimated cost of its planned on-line upgrade of the A80 to full motorway status does not include the cost of the Auchenkilns interchange project and work on the millennium bridge over the Forth and Clyde Canal.

Tavish Scott: The estimated cost of the motorway upgrade does not include either the Auchenkilns Junction or the Millennium Bridge.

  Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more information if required.

Roads

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21275 by Tavish Scott on 15 December 2005, whether it will revise these figures to include an estimate of what the total cost would be to (a) upgrade the A80 to full motorway status on the on-line route by one lane more than is presently planned, as recommended by consultants in 2002, and (b) construct the motorway through the Kelvin Valley route with an extra lane.

Tavish Scott: No. Neither of these is being proposed.

  Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more information if required.

Roads

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost to it was of the millennium bridge project over the Forth and Clyde Canal on the route of the A80.

Tavish Scott: The millennium bridge project was the responsibility of and promoted by British Waterways.

  Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more information if required.

Roads

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the cost of the new A8000 to M9 link road has risen from an estimated £15.15 million, excluding VAT, identified in the 1999 strategic roads review, to £35.6 million in 2005.

Tavish Scott: The cost of A8000 upgrade was estimated in the Strategic Roads Review by the then Scottish Office at £15.15 million excluding VAT, at 1998 prices. Responsibility for taking the project forward since that time, and for later estimates of costs, lies with the City of Edinburgh Council. The council’s recent price estimates take account of more detailed design work, ground consolidation requirements and the upgrading of the original design to motorway standards, as well as price inflation since 1998.

Roads

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21275 by Tavish Scott on 15 December 2005, whether its estimate of the cost of constructing the M80 through the identified Kelvin Valley route is based on a motorway with the same amount of lanes which it plans for its preferred on-line upgrade of the A80 to full motorway status.

Tavish Scott: Yes, except for the section of the on line upgrade between M73 and Low Wood when the M80 and the M73 merge requiring additional lanes.

  Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more information if required.

Roads

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why it prefers to upgrade the A80 on its on-line route to full motorway status, rather than constructing the M80 through the identified Kelvin Valley route.

Tavish Scott: This matter was fully discussed at the Public Local Inquiry held in October 2005.

  Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more information if required.

Roads

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21275 by Tavish Scott on 15 December 2005, whether its estimate of the cost of constructing the M80 through the identified Kelvin Valley route takes account of the (a) good rock that would be excavated at various points on the route that could be crushed on site and utilised for hardcore and other purposes, thus saving purchase cost and aggregate tax, (b) utilisation of excavated material which could be used as filling, thereby saving on landfill transport and landfill tax, or (c) sale of large amounts of peat that could be excavated on the route which could be offset against the costs of construction.

Tavish Scott: The Kelvin Valley Route was costed in outline for the Public Local Inquiry held in October 2005. A general allowance for these items was included in these costs, but the estimates did not separately identify these savings.

  Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more information if required.

Roads

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the cost of constructing the M80 through the identified Kelvin Valley route has been analysed by either an independent contractor or consultancy engineers.

Tavish Scott: The cost estimate was independently prepared by Jacobs Babtie, a leading firm of consulting engineers.

  Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more information if required.

Roads

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-21275 by Tavish Scott on 15 December 2005, who made the assessment of these costs.

Tavish Scott: I refer the member to answer to question S2W-23923 on 20 March 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

  Transport Scotland has the operational responsibility for this area, and can be contacted for more information if required.

Scotland Act 1998

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had (a) with Her Majesty’s Government and (b) internally about the impact of altering the Scotland Act 1998, particularly Schedule 5 of the act.

Ms Margaret Curran: I refer the member to the answer to question S1W-28375 on 10 September 2002 which explained that the Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues including, where appropriate, issues relating to legislative competence (e.g. schedule 5 to the Scotland Act 1998). As the First Minister made clear on 7 September 2005, however, no general internal review of the devolution settlement is being undertaken within the Executive ( Official Report , col. 18950).

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received the document referred to in the article on pages 38 and 39 of the Sunday Herald of 19 February 2006 as the "report by three experts at the UK’s national forensic training centre in Durham" in relation to the Shirley McKie and David Asbury fingerprints; if so, on what date and, if not, whether it has received advice as to its contents and, if so, on what date.

Cathy Jamieson: A report prepared by the National Training Centre for Scientific Support to Crime Investigation was completed in June 2001 and thereafter passed to the Crown Office. No Scottish minister outwith Crown Office has seen this report. The previous Justice Minister was informed on 3 August 2000 that the eight chief constables had concluded, on the basis of investigations up to that point, that four fingerprint officers at SCRO were to be suspended and of the reason for this. These investigations became part of a criminal investigation on which no further information was made available to the Justice Ministers.

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide details of the fingerprint expertise, experience and qualifications of each of the heads of the fingerprint bureaux in Scotland.

Cathy Jamieson: The posts were created with the establishment of the Scottish Fingerprint Service. They were advertised widely and filled following open competition. The successful candidates have a broad range of senior management skills and experience from industry and the armed forces. The post holders are not, and are not required to be, fingerprint experts.

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is its understanding that the (a) management and (b) staff of the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) accept that "an honest mistake" was made in respect of the misidentification of Shirley McKie’s fingerprint.

Cathy Jamieson: The Executive reached a settlement with Ms McKie on the basis that the misidentification had been made in good faith and was not malicious. The basis on which the Executive sought to reach a settlement was made clear to the staff at SCRO in June 2005. The Director of SCRO has confirmed that he accepted ministers’ decision to settle the case and has acknowledged it as an opportunity for the organisation and staff to move on.

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the full details of its financial settlement with Shirley McKie.

Cathy Jamieson: The settlement figure of £750,000 includes compensation for personal injury and loss of reputation, past wage loss, future wage loss, pension loss, relevant services and an element to cover interest. The Scottish Executive will also be responsible for meeting the costs of Ms McKie’s legal team. This cost is not yet known.

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide written proof that it was accepted by both parties to the settlement reached between Shirley McKie and the Scottish Executive that an "honest mistake" was made by individuals.

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide written proof that it was accepted by both parties to the settlement reached between Shirley McKie and the Scottish Executive that "no malice was involved".

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive offered to settle with Ms McKie on the basis that the misidentification had been made in good faith and was not malicious. This was made clear to Ms McKie and her legal advisers in writing on 29 June 2005. When the case was settled on 7 February 2006, the judge noted that the settlement was made without admission of liability.

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any investigation has taken place to establish whether any serving officers within Strathclyde Police deliberately tried to falsely incriminate Shirley McKie in respect of her fingerprint being allegedly found at the scene of the Marion Ross murder in Kilmarnock in 1997.

Cathy Jamieson: That would be an operational matter for the Chief Constable of Strathclyde Police.

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, in respect of the quashing of the conviction of David Asbury for the murder of Marion Ross in Kilmarnock in 1997 on the basis that the fingerprint evidence provided by the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) was unreliable, what action was taken by Scottish ministers and the Lord Advocate to rectify the deficiencies in the fingerprint evidence being presented by the SCRO.

Cathy Jamieson: I refer to the member to the answer to question S2W-23156 on 10 March 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is still the case that replies to parliamentary questions in relation to the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) are drafted on behalf of ministers by the SCRO; if so, whether the draft replies are independently checked within the Executive; if so, by what procedure and by whom and, if not, what the reasons are for the position on the matter and whether the Executive has any plans to review this policy.

Cathy Jamieson: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-20698 on 28 November 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many fingerprints from the scene of the Marion Ross murder in Kilmarnock in January 1997 were wrongly identified by the Scottish Criminal Record Office.

Cathy Jamieson: There was one disputed fingerprint mark at the Marion Ross murder scene.

Scottish Executive Publications

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it is giving to the report entitled "Review of First Impressions of Scotland" and when it expects to respond to the report.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Executive will publish a report of the progress made on addressing the recommendations of the First Impressions of Scotland Report during the summer 2006.

Social Enterprise

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage the development of social enterprise as a means of delivering public services.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Futurebuilders Scotland Fund has provided funding to support the development of the social economy sector which includes social enterprises.

  Scottish ministers have committed to developing a specific strategy for social enterprise in Scotland. The strategy will link to Scottish Executive commitments to deliver better public services and grow Scotland’s economy. It will also link to the Executive’s vision for the voluntary sector and the wider social economy.

  One of the areas to be considered by the strategy will be how to develop the role of social enterprises in delivering public services. A draft strategy will be published for consultation shortly.

Social Enterprise

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in developing a strategy for social enterprise.

Malcolm Chisholm: Scottish ministers have committed to developing a specific strategy for social enterprise in Scotland. The strategy will link to Scottish Executive commitments to deliver better public services and grow Scotland’s economy. It will also link to the Executive’s vision for the voluntary sector and the wider social economy.

  The strategy will:

  
set out what is meant by social enterprise;
  explore the work undertaken by social enterprises;
  examine support for social enterprises, and
  examine how the growth and development of social enterprises can be encouraged.


  A draft strategy will be published for consultation shortly. The strategy will include an action plan with a timetable for implementing the actions.

Sport

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, following disclosure, in response to a freedom of information request, of  sportscotland: Property review and relocation study which stated that "if the Scottish Executive still wish  sportscotland to move from their existing location then a financial incentive should be provided to encourage this", what plans the Executive has to make additional funds available if  sportscotland is relocated.

Patricia Ferguson: The future location of  sportscotland’s headquarters is a matter under active consideration by ministers.

Suicide

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children and young people under 18 have committed suicide in each year since 1990.

George Lyon: In presenting statistics on suicides it is conventional to combine deaths classified as intentional self-harm (suicides) with those classified as events of undetermined intent. This is because the majority of the latter are likely to have been suicides. However, this assumption is known to be less valid for children, particularly those aged under 10. For this reason the following table shows the two categories separately and restricts the information on events of undetermined intent to deaths aged 10 to 17.

  Deaths from Intentional Self-Harm and Events of Undetermined Intent, Scotland

  

1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004


Intentional Self-Harm (Aged Under 18)


4
10
12
16
12
19
11
7
19
13
22
16
16
16
15


Undetermined Intent (Aged 10 - 17)


4
1
4
7
4
3
3
12
9
9
12
2
8
4
6

Supporting People

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding mechanism will replace the Supporting People fund.

Malcolm Chisholm: We have no plans to replace the Supporting People programme in Scotland, which helped over 170,000 vulnerable people to live independently in their communities in 2004-05.

  We will consider any changes to the Supporting People programme in England that may arise in the light of consultations carried out by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister but, as a devolved programme, we are free to administer and develop the programme as we judge best for Scotland.

Timber Industry

Alex Fergusson (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made on the establishment of the Strategic Timber Transport Fund, announced in October 2004.

Rhona Brankin: Ministers established the £13 million Scottish Strategic Timber Transport Fund to help pay for timber transport infrastructure projects which will benefit local communities and the environment. Forestry Commission Scotland has since been working with officials from the European Commission, and the Timber Transport Forum, to ensure that the scheme to disburse monies from the Fund complies with EC requirements.

  Forestry Commission Scotland has just this week received the go-ahead from the EC, and is now taking account of recommendations from the Timber Transport Forum which has been considering some initial project applications. I expect to be able to announce the first successful projects within a month.

Transport

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how the Forth Estuary Transport Authority is funded; what its budget has been in each of the last three years, and what it will be in each of the next three years.

Tavish Scott: The Forth Estuary Transport Authority (FETA) is principally funded through tolling revenues. Details of FETA’s past and future budgets are available from the Authority, which produces annual operating reports and accounts.

Waste Management

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive in what locations planning permission has been given for the burning of sewage sludge.

Ross Finnie: This is a matter for Scottish Water and its contractors, and for planning authorities. The information is not held centrally.

Waste Management

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what environmental safeguards are put in place when sewage sludge is proposed to be burnt.

Ross Finnie: Any proposals to burn sewage sludge must meet the conditions of the appropriate environmental permission. What that permission, and those conditions, should be in the case of any individual application is a matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. All such regimes require the protection of human health and the environment.

Waste Management

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what transport impact studies have been undertaken at sites earmarked for sewage sludge burning.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive does not incinerate sewage sludge, and does not earmark sites for this activity. Transport impact is a matter for planning authorities considering individual applications.

Waste Management

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what environmental impact assessments have been carried out at sites earmarked for sewage sludge burning.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive does not incinerate sewage sludge, and does not earmark sites for this activity. Environmental impact assessments at such sites are a matter for the planning system, in accordance with the Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations 1999.

Waste Management

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated energy production levels are from burning sewage sludge.

Ross Finnie: Information about the calorific value of sewage sludge is available in the Strategic Environmental Assessment of the Draft National Sludge Strategy published on Scottish Water’s website http://www.scottishwater.co.uk .

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the annual budget of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman has been in each year since the office was established.

John Scott: The annual budgets of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman since the office was established on 23 October 2002 are as follows:

  

Year
Budget


2002-03
£1,731,000¹


2003-04
£2,568,000


2004-05
£2,836,000


2005-06
£2,727,168



  Note: 1. Includes £0.5 million for start-up costs.

Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how many staff members the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman has had in each year since the office was established.

John Scott: The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman’s staffing compliment since the office was established on 23 October 2002 is as follows:

  

Year
Average Number of Whole-Time Equivalents


2002-03
23


2003-04
29


2004-05
31.9


2005-06
36

Scottish Public Services Ombudsman

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body whether it considers that the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman has sufficient resources to cope with her workload.

John Scott: We do consider that the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman has sufficient resources to undertake her statutory functions. As part of the budgetary process, the SPCB invites the Ombudsman on an annual basis to prepare a budget submission which is scrutinised by the SPCB and which may include discussions between the SPCB and the Ombudsman prior to the bid being reported to the Finance Committee as part of the SPCB’s overall budget submission.